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EUROPEANSOUTHERNOBSERVATORY Organisation Europ´eennepour des Recherches Astronomiques dans l'H´emisph`ereAustral Europ¨aische Organisation f¨urastronomische Forschung in der s¨udlichen Hemisph¨are OBSERVING PROGRAMMES OFFICE • Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 2 • D-85748 Garching bei M¨unchen • e-mail: [email protected] • Tel. : +49-89-32 00 64 73 APPLICATION FOR OBSERVING TIME PERIOD: 87A Important Notice: By submitting this proposal, the PI takes full responsibility for the content of the proposal, in particular with regard to the names of CoIs and the agreement to act according to the ESO policy and regulations, should observing time be granted 1. Title Category: A{6 Spectra of Galaxies Gravitationally Lensed by Abell 2744, the Largest Separation \Bullet Cluster" 2. Abstract / Total Time Requested Total Amount of Time: 0 nights VM, 9 hours SM Violent cluster mergers, when observed in the plane of our sky, place constraints on the physical nature of dark matter particles. These events are rare, and Abell 2744 is one of the best examples. This cluster merger is similar to the \Bullet Cluster" but more massive and with an even larger (the largest observed) separation between dark matter and the stripped, shocked cluster gas. Chandra X-ray observations of A2744 reveal extremely high temperature (> 15 keV) shock regions. We have obtained new deep multiband HST/ACS images of A2744's core to derive detailed dark matter maps. Our analyses reveal 30+ arcs produced by strong gravitational lensing. Spectroscopic redshifts of these arcs are essential to determine the masses of the merging clumps and constrain DM collsionality. None have been published to date. Therefore we are requesting 9 hours on VIMOS, primarily to obtain spectroscopic redshifts of strongly lensed arcs produced by this cluster. 3. Run Period Instrument Time Month Moon Seeing Sky Mode Type A 87 VIMOS 9h sep n 1.0 CLR s 4. Number of nights/hours Telescope(s) Amount of time a) already awarded to this project: b) still required to complete this project: 5. Special remarks: 6. Principal Investigator: Dan Coe, [email protected], US, Jet Propulsion Laboratory 6a. Co-investigators: B. Frye Other,US F. Braglia University of British Columbia,Department of Physics and Astronomy,CA R. Dupke Observatorio Nacional, MCT, CNPq,BR R. Massey Institute for Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh,UK Following CoIs moved to the end of the document ... 7. Is this proposal linked to a PhD thesis preparation? State role of PhD student in this project - 1 - 8. Description of the proposed programme A { Scientific Rationale: The \Bullet Cluster" (1E0657-56) provides \direct empirical evidence for the existence of dark matter" (Markevitch04, Clowe04, Clowe06) and upper limits on the DM particle's self- 2 collisional cross section: σ=m ∼< 1cm =g (Randall08). This cluster merger appears to have followed this \simple" scenario: dark matter and galaxies passed directly through the collision while the hot cluster gas was shocked, stripped back, and left behind. This clearly reveals the different self-collisionalities of the various components, invalidating the simplest MOND/MOG hypotheses that DM is nothing but \missing mass" or \stronger gravity". As strong as this evidence is, the Bullet Cluster is but a single system. Additional cluster mergers must be studied, but these events are rare, and only a handful have been studied to date. The \Baby Bullet" (MACS J0025.4-1222; Bradac08) does appears to follow the Bullet Cluster scenario. However, analyses of two z ∼ 0:8 clusters (CL0152-14 and MS1054-03) seem to reveal galaxies slightly trailing the dark matter (with gas behind further still; Jee05a,b). And the initial analysis of Abell 520 (the \Cosmic Train Wreck"; Mahdavi07) suggested an opposite scenario, in which dark matter is stripped but gas is not! More recently, Abell 2146 was shown to have an X-ray structure very similar to the Bullet Cluster including a prominent bow shock, yet strangely the BCG trails the X-ray gas plume (Russel10). It seems that cluster mergers do not all follow a simple scenario, and additional analyses are warranted. The Abell 2744 cluster merger (z = 0:308) exhibits the largest observed separation between dark matter and X-ray gas (5400 ∼ 240 kpc, Shan10). Gas does appear to be stripped and left behind, though it has a complex temperature distribution along with a secondary gas clump residing to the NW. This NW gas clump may be unrelated, though recent work (Boehringer06, Braglia07,09) strongly suggests it is trailing a still infalling NW subcluster which is about to join the merger of two other clumps already in progress. Meanwhile, weak lensing analysis of VLT/FORS1 images (updated from the analyses presented in Cypriano04) show that the SE galaxies are slightly trailing the SE DM mass clump (Fig. 1). Again we find deviations from the simple scenario of gas being stripped from DM and galaxies. To map the DM structure of A2744 in more detail, we have obtained deep multiband Hubble Space Telescope imaging. Strong lensing analysis of these images reveals 30+ multiple images of 10+ background galaxies (Fig. 2). Similar to the Bullet Cluster analyses (Bradac06), we will obtain a robust mass model through simultaneous modeling of the strong + weak lensing observed in the HST and wider fields (here, VLT/FORS1). Our SL+WL analysis method (SaWLens; Merten09) has been demonstrated to yield reliable reconstructions of complicated mass distributions including cluster mergers similar to A2744. This method was applied to VLT/FORS and VLT/ISAAC data of MS2137-24. Spectroscopic redshifts for one or more the lensed arcs are essential to normalize our mass model, specifically, the mass of each merging subcluster. Arc redshift uncertainties can translate into uncertainties of a factor of ∼ 2 in the mass of each subclump (Bradac06). Currently no spectroscopic redshifts have been published for arcs lensed by A2744 (although see x10a and Fig. 4 right). Our ACS+VLT strong+weak lensing analyses including spectroscopic redshifts will provide robust and detailed maps of the DM in A2744's core. By comparing the positions of the DM clumps, galaxies, and X-ray gas clumps, we will help trace the merger history of this cluster. Furthermore, A2744 has a higher mass than the Bullet Cluster, offering the potential for tighter constraints on the dark matter self-interaction cross section. Ancillary science (spectra to be obtained in parallel): We will increase the completeness of spectral coverage in the central regions of the cluster (Fig. 4 left), including fainter cluster members (I ∼> 22). This will provide us with more precise estimates of: 1) the dynamical mass (Biviano06; to be compared with the lensing and X-ray derived masses and used in joint analyses); 2) kinematics in the high line-of-sight velocity core, revealing how the velocity distribution is affected by the ongoing merger; 3) galaxy blue fraction as a function of magnitude / stellar mass (Couch98). We will also target some especially blue cluster members to investigate possible star-formation activity enhance- ments in cluster galaxies due to harassment (e.g., the “flaming giants" detected by Braglia et al. 2007) and/or ram pressure stripping. One especially enigmatic galaxy worthy of further study is highlighted in Fig. 3. B { Immediate Objective: We will obtain multislit spectroscopy at R = 600 to measure redshifts for a sufficiently bright subset of our ∼ 30 images of ∼ 10 galaxies strongly lensed by Abell 2744. We will also study the spectral features of the IGM along the lines of sight to the arcs (Frye07,08). In parallel, we will obtain spectra of cluster galaxies as described above. We will include blue cluster galaxies, planning to measure the star formation rates, ISM gas turbulence and physical conditions based on the line fluxes, line widths, and line profiles of the available emission lines. Regarding our Fig. 3 galaxy, NTT/EMMI data reveal [OIII]λ5007 and Hβ (Boschin06: ID90). We will also search for additional Balmer series lines to deduce the reddening as well as [OII], [OIII], [SiII] and [NII] to better understand the physical and evolutionary state of this dynamically-disturbed spiral galaxy. - 2 - 8. Description of the proposed programme and attachments Fig. 1: Abell 2744 exhibits the largest observed separation Fig. 2: Based on strong lens modeling of (~54′′ ~240 kpc; Shan10) between dark matter (shown here in our HST/ACS images, we have identified blue) and hot cluster gas (red, from Chandra) overlaid on our 30+ multiple images of 10+ background newly-obtained HST/ACS images (BVi color image, 3.5′ × 2.8′ objects. Spectroscopic redshifts of these section). The dark matter map is an updated version of that arcs are essential to determine mass of this obtained via weak lensing analysis in Cypriano04. The (SW) clump as well as normalize the full galaxies at left appear to be slightly trailing the dark matter. mass model. The other clumps exhibit This would be interesting, as hints of this have been seen fewer arcs, but their spec-z will be equally elsewhere (Jee05a,b). We are improving this DM map important. Spec-z have yet to be obtained significantly by including strong and weak lensing constraints for any A2744 arcs (although see Fig. 4). which we have obtained from HST/ACS data (Fig. 2). The HST/ACS BVi image stamp: 100′′×100′′ bright X-ray source is featured in Fig. 3. (1′′ ~ 4.3 kpc). Fig. 3: This galaxy appears to be undergoing prominent ram pressure stripping and star formation as it plows through Fig. 4: Left – Many A2744 cluster galaxies remain without confident the cluster gas. It is also a very spectroscopic redshifts. Overlaid on the VLT/FORS1 VRI and HST/ACS bright X-ray source, likely BVi color images are objects with published redshifts in the central ~7′×7′ indicating a central AGN (or from Braglia09 VLT/VIMOS (spec-z, squares) and Boschin06 perhaps intense star formation).